Is Mr Squiggles Too Toxic For Junior?

The ad below, running all over American TV right now, is an attempt to convince American consumers that it's just groovy that much of what they buy is made in China because "when it says 'Made in China' it really means 'Made in China-- Made With The World.'" Feel better now?

Here's another short video clip-- about unsafe robotic kids' pets-- Zhu Zhu pets, made in China-- killing the world. Yesterday the Christian Science Monitor reported that the latest Made in China scandal isn't about poisoned pet food killing Fido, but about toy hamsters that could potentially harm children. Too much toxic metal in the wildly popular Christmas toys. (They "don't poop die or stink." Wal-Mart, of course, couldn't care less if they make thousands of children seriously ill.)

The company that manufactures Zhu Zhu pets, Cepia LLC, reacted strongly to the news, maintaining that there is nothing wrong with its motorized hamsters.

“We are disputing the findings of Good Guide and we are 100 percent confident that Mr. Squiggles, and all other Zhu Zhu Toys, are safe and compliant with all U.S. and European standards for consumer health and safety in toys,” said Russ Hornsby, CEO of Cepia LLC, the company that makes Zhu Zhu pets, in a press release.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 limits antimony to no more than 60 parts per million. Good Guide says it found 93 ppm in Mr. Squiggles’ fur and 103 in its nose.

Tests in animals have attributed a series of ailments large-scale consumption of antimony, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease says. Yet the DHHS also says it does not “know what other health effects would occur to people who swallow antimony.”